Politicians get a lot of media attention when they run for office.
But Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., just got some media attention for running while in office.
Literally, running. The October issue of Runner’s World magazine profiles the senator’s weekly running regimen as part of its back of the magazine feature “I’m a Runner.”
“I am a runner and have been for 20 or 30 years,” said Capito in a phone interview about the article from her Washington, D.C. office (the article is also available online with a companion video at www.runners world.com/im-a-runner/im-a-runner -shelley-moore-capito.)
“I’ve been running about four miles, four days a week. It’s very important to me. And Runner’s World likes to feature different types of people to spur interest in running,” Capito said.
While in the nation’s capital, Capito maintains a monumental running regimen, which is to say she plans her running route with key monuments along the way.
“In D.C., I mostly run right to the Mall. I run up the Mall, past the Washington Monument, past the World War II Memorial. Occasionally, I’ve gone over the Memorial Bridge and gone that way, which elongates it. And then back around after I’ve paid my respects to Mr. Lincoln.”
The article notes that Capito always tries to stop at the Lincoln Memorial, where she reads either the stone-etched versions of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address or his Gettysburg address.“
When my daughter read it, she said ‘Mom, do you really do that?!’ And I said I really do that. Because it’s one of the most concisely written, meaningful things that you can read that’s so appropriate today as it was when he wrote it. So, I really do that.”
She also tries to run up the stone steps leading to the huge statue of Lincoln seated in a chair. “But sometimes the National Park Police, they don’t like you to run up the steps, I think for safety reasons.”
She usually runs by herself when in D.C., but has sometimes run with other congressional mates, she said, “I’ve run with some other members. Kelly Ayotte, who is a senator from New Hampshire, I’ve run with her more than a few times. Kirsten Gillibrand, from New York, I’ve run with her before. It’s fun to run with other members so you can talk about everything but your job.”She has her own routes when back in the Mountain State.
“When I’m in Charleston, I’ve run the Carriage Trail quite a bit. I’ll run up in my neighborhood, which is pretty hilly. Going up Laurel is a pretty steep climb. It’s usually about four miles again. It took me a while to work up to running up on the hills. If it’s nice I’ll run the bridges — the South Side Bridge to the Kanawha City Bridge and around. I’ve also sometimes included going up the Patrick Street Bridge and I’ll run along the river there.” She runs a lot of 5k runs and just did a CAMC-sponsored run that went up the steep hill to Spring Hill Cemetery. “That was a killer there. I’d never run that hill before. I made it. I thought I was going to end up at the cemetery, literally. Once you get up on the top of the hill, coming down is pretty easy.”
Capito is glad to see the rise in popularity of running in her home state, with more and more cities and towns hosting regular runs and themed runs.
“I run a lot of the 5ks. I did one in Huntington once. You always see a good group, a variety of ages. You see families running together on Turkey Trots at Thanksgiving. You always see families and extended families who are getting that exercise in the morning before they go to the family meal. The nice thing about running is it doesn’t cost anything. A good pair of running shoes. As long as you’re either warm or cool and you have good shoes on, anyone can do it.”
Even when she doesn’t feel like running, she will sometimes walk the same routes she normally runs, she said. “It’s just as good for you.”
Running and walking is also a good way to keep up friendships, Capito said. “That’s how I catch a lot of time with my friends in Charleston. We’ll go for a long walk.”
Capito said her running routine has many benefits.
“It makes you feel good, number one. Once you run you feel so much better, it makes you want to go out and do it again. And I think there are ways to start slow and build up to it — that’s the way I did it. It makes you want to take better care of yourself; it’s heart healthy.
And logging the miles helps with her job at times, the senator said.
“When I am running in the morning and if I have something important coming up in the next several days, I will formulate an outline in my mind. I don’t listen to music when I run so I kind of keep my mind free to think about how I might want to have a speech or how I might feel about a certain subject or who I needed to call to get feedback on. So, I do use it at times to kind of sort out the issues of the day.”